The present invention relates to fishing lures and, more particularly, to fishing lures which have features for creating life-like movements simulating the appearance of a frog when drawn through the water.
Artificial fishing lures have been around for centuries, dating back at least to the employment of sea shells as spoon-like artifical lures by early American Indians. The development of fishing lures since then has been broad and expansive, to say the least. From lures which entice the appetite, to those which spurn instinctive defenses, man has tried steadfastly to lure the interest of his finned friends of the aquatic world through innumerable improvements in the artificial lure.
In the process, many have tried to simulate the swimming motion of aquatic animals through the use of curved, flexible members trailing behind the lure. As such a lure is drawn through the water, drag forces come into play which tend to stretch the flexible members rearward. If the lure is elastic and sufficiently flexible, the appendages of the lure will oscillate between its unflexed shape and its fully extended shape as the lure accelerates and decelerates in a cyclic fashion, appearing much like a swimming creature. The extent of such life-like movement, therefore, depends on the acceleration of the lure (i.e., the manner of reeling in the lure) as well as on the characteristic responsiveness of the lure to such acceleration.
Many features have been employed in artificial lures for the purpose of enhancing the characteristic drag coefficients of the lure as it is drawn through the water. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 2,690,026, issued to King, discloses a snake-like lure formed of flexible material that is biased into a serpentine configuration but also has a scoop at its rear extremity. The scoop increases the drag at that rear extremity to cause the body of the lure to become straight when pulled across the surface of the water. The resulting oscillation as the lure decelerates provides the lure with a life-like appearance which tends to attract the interest of fish.
Of all aquatic animals, the frog is believed to be the one which is most sought-after by freshwater fish. Therefore, many have attempted to entice the appetite of fish by producing lures that have the appearance, size and texture which simulate those aspects of a frog. The most common approach of achieving such simulation is through the provision of flexible appendages trailing behind a lure body as it is drawn through the water. If those members are curved or bent, the life-like motions of a frog may be simulated as the lure is reeled through the water. The U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,105,317; 4,530,179; 3,868,784; 2,867,933; and 2,738,611 are examples. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,074,455 and 4,771,567 disclose lures having the appearance of other aquatic animals with appendages that flex during the movement of the lure through water. Nevertheless, man continues his endeavor to produce still more improved fishing lures.